Muslim Men Growing a Beard – Sunnah is to let it Grow (long)

An-Nisaa’ (5232) reported from al-Baraa’ that he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a thick beard; according to another report, he had a bushy beard; according to another report, he had a wide beard.

Al-Nawawi said: the best is to leave it as it is and not touch it or shorten it at all. (Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 8/39).

All of these ahaadeeth indicate that it is obligatory to leave the beard alone and let it grow, and that it is obligatory to trim the moustache. This is what is obligatory as taught and enjoined by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). This was the example set by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his companions (may Allaah be pleased with them), to be different from the mushrikeen and to avoid resembling them or resembling women.

With regard to the report narrated by al-Tirmidhi (may Allaah have mercy on him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to trim something from the length and breadth of his beard, this is a false report according to the scholars, and it is not a saheeh report from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Some people clung to this hadeeth to prove their point, but it is a report which is not saheeh, because its isnaad includes ‘Umar ibn Haaroon al-Balkhi, who was accused of lying.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah preserve him) said: The definition of the beard as stated by the scholars of (Arabic) language is: the hair of the face, jawbone and cheeks, in the sense that all the hair on the cheeks, jawbone and chin is part of the beard and removing any of it is counted as a sin, because the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Let your beards grow,” “Leave your beards alone,” “Let your beards increase,” “Let your beards be full.” This indicates that it is not permissible to remove anything from the beard. But the sin may vary in degree – shaving the beard is worse than shortening it, because it is a more obvious contradiction of the Sunnah.